I read a lot of the forum posts, and I get a sense that the majority of OzBargainers (or active OzBargainers) are from Melbourne/Victoria. Is this true? I don't see as many questions about Sydney, Brisbane, Perth or Adelaide. Would there be any reason for that? I've noticed that Melbourne tends to have a more cohesive community than some other cities, so it would make sense that there is also a more active online community. Or am I mistaken about this?
Is OzBargain Primarily Melbourne-Based?
ForkSnorter on 23/04/2024 - 08:35
Last edited 23/04/2024 - 08:51 by 1 other user
Last edited 23/04/2024 - 08:51 by 1 other user
Poll Options
- 270I live in Melbourne
- 19I live in regional VIC
- 151I live in Sydney
- 67I live in Brisbane
- 60I live in Perth
- 35I live in Adelaide
- 21I live in Canberra
- 5I live in Darwin
- 6I live in Hobart
- 8I live in another major city
- 35I live in another regional area
Comments
And obviously Poll shows OB membership has a RANDOM allocation as you would expect
But it seems mosty Frugal people live in Melbourne..
Could the sample represent "cost of living" since mainly Sydney and Melbourne?
Doesnt even reflect population.
We had more people from other states but many became inactive when online social networks generally swung to the left.
OK, I updated the poll options.
How about I live in another country
what are you doing in ozb?
Not me specifically, but I see the occasional forum comments and posts from members who reside elsewhere. And I get the impression some members are new to Australia and retain strong connections to their homelands.
Maybe the mods can post some profile location statistics, but some people don't update it if they move.
Just looking at the Analytics data over the last 30 days:
City Users Sydney 27.6% Melbourne 26.4% Brisbane 12.1% Perth 6.5% Adelaide 3.8% Hobart 1.9% Canberra 1.8% Darwin 0.2% There are lots of other large cities listed (Centra Coast, Melton, Newcastle, Cairns, Rockhampton, Gold Coast, etc) and a big chunk of users that Google cannot figure out the city (overseas, on VPN/proxy, etc).
Cool, I was referring to what people manually enter on their profile, but that is probably more accurate 😂
Only 0.2% from Darwin yet so many Darwin awards being issued in the forums lately.
now compile a table based on post count and see how much some users sway the ratios :)
I've noticed that Melbourne tends to have a more cohesive community than some other cities
Don't go saying nice things about Melbourne or Victoria in general. You'll upset the other states. They like to think we're all unhappy living in a state prison down here or something like that.
There is not much nice you can say about Melbourne
Then move, the borders are open again.
Nah, I am content to sit back and watch Victoria implode under the weight of debt.
@Ocker: Why stay if you're not happy? Other than to complain while reading the MSM BS?
NSW has just as much debt. Are they going to implode? Infact NSW is crying they will lose their credit rating with the latest GST handouts being reduced to VIC levels they had during covid. hahahaha So maybe it wasn't VIC after all, but other states getting more funding.
Victoria has more debt than Qld, NSW and Tas combined
LOL is that the truth or did you read it In The Herald Sun?
Maybe have a read https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/states-debt-to-hit-6…
S&P said Victoria, which had gross debt of $55.2 billion in 2019, is on track to hold $247.2 billion by 2027. NSW’s debt over the same period is forecast to grow from $63.3 billion to $236.3 billion, while Queensland’s debt is tipped to more than double to $149 billion
So in 2019, VIC had $55b in debt, but NSW had $63b, so MORE debt than VIC…… QLD had about ~$75b debt in 2019, cough cough again more than VIC.
But these states are projected to have in 2027
QLD $149b
NSW $236b
VIC $247bSo however you want to split it, VIC/NSW will both basically have the same amount of debt, give or take $10b. But with the recent swapping of GST amounts for NSW/VIC, NSW looks to have a $12b hole in the budget, so NSW might even overtake VIC ;)
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/nsw-set-to-lose-its-aaa…
Yet somehow VIC is the one drowning in debt and is 'broke'. The honest truth is, the entire east coast is drowning in debt.
But don't let facts or the truth get in the way of a good VIC bashing comment.
@JimmyF: That's far too much information for @ocker
It has multiple lines.
There's a reason the conservative media talk in soundbites.
@JimmyF: No, he's right. Victoria is completely screwed.
https://adepteconomics.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Sta…
The debts aren't equal, a large part of Victoria's debts are from covid - $31 billion and nothing to show for it, no return investment.
While NSW has similar numbers, they are a GSP power house. You're comparing someone with an income of $50k vs $100k with a million dollar loan.
Government debt per capita - Victoria is almost double NSW's massive debt levels. WA, Tasmania and Qld are actually doing pretty well in that sense.
Worse still Victoria's GSP is collapsing as businesses continue to liquidate over their own covid debts which are now being called in.
The ATO has basically ended the grace period and has started culling.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-18/ato-chases-small-busi…The debts aren't equal, a large part of Victoria's debts are from covid - $31 billion and nothing to show for it, no return investment.
$31b you say? What did NSW spend on covid and what do they have to show for it?
Worse still Victoria's GSP is collapsing as businesses continue to liquidate over their own covid debts which are now being called in.
That article you linked to is for Australia, its not just VIC businesses having issues with COVID debts.
But then, I thought a second ago you just said the state spent $31b on COVID? Wasn't that mostly to prop up businesses? :)
Government debt per capita - Victoria is almost double NSW's massive debt levels.
On a per capita, the debt is NSW is about $14k per Capita while VIC is $24k per Capita.
VIC just needs to pump a few more people into the state over the next few years and that'll drop.
Its not all doom and gloom, VIC is spending about 7% compared to NSW 5.5% to service the debt.
VIC has been broke and bankrupt for decades if I read the MSM, but really is it? Looks like all states are piling on the debt to me.
@JimmyF: NSW didn't spend two whole years in lockdown and again, they have better capacity to service their debt.
Victorian businesses were the ones that got smashed the hardest, the state has done a lot to keep them propped up like the Covid hardship fund but that's recently ended.
It's true, all they have to do is revenue raise harder, cut services and pump up migration. Doesn't exactly make it a great place to live.
Victoria already is the nanny fleecing state in terms of fines.
I think they've already sold off/privatised everything they possibly could, fired every government employee they could and cancelled any project blowing out ( pretty much anything not completing this year )
I did like their solution of going after landlords during a rental crisis, that's going to end well.
I do agree with you that all government in Australia is overspending and getting into dumb levels of debt.
NSW didn't spend two whole years in lockdown and again, they have better capacity to service their debt.
VIC didn't spend two whole years in lockdown.
The question was, what did NSW spend on COVID and what do they have to show for it?
As you have failed to answer it, I'll answer it for you. It was billions like VIC and they got nothing to show for it like VIC.
Victorian businesses were the ones that got smashed the hardest, the state has done a lot to keep them propped up like the Covid hardship fund but that's recently ended.
Says who? Sure VIC got hit hard during lockdowns but the gov propped them up (so maybe we did get something from the money after all?), they also recovered very well. Every business that I used pre COVID is still around post COVID. It isn't a ghost town of closed up shops like you might think.
Oh wait no, one of the hair dressers I used closed 6 months ago. Not really sure that was COVID related.
I think they've already sold off/privatised everything they possibly could, fired every government employee they could and cancelled any project blowing out ( pretty much anything not completing this year )
LOL Did you read that in the media? Heaps of projects being completed. The rail crossing removals are powering on, most are ahead of schedule.
I do agree with you that all government in Australia is overspending and getting into dumb levels of debt.
This we can agree on.
QLD had about ~$75b debt in 2019, cough cough
Yes, but $35b for OIC kickbacks is classed as "Investment Funding" against future Games Earnings, and a non-recurring expense. Probably.
🙂against future Games Earnings
LOL Say what? Future games earnings!? Is there such a thing!? No one wants to host the games anymore as they are a money pit without a payback.
All big cities have sports facilities, no one wants to do the games anymore.
The games used to move around as it was a way for cities to build infra for a reason. That is long gone now.
QLD will have a mountain of debt post games.
Yes
I've noticed that Melbourne tends to have a more cohesive community than some other cities
Have you lived in all the cities listed in you poll?
If not, the quote above is irrelevant.
Maybe more questions because there are more dumb users in Melbourne?
By that measure, any town where no local question had been asked would have the smartest OzBargain members.
(Not where I am, sadly)
I only live for bargains
Productreview thinks that Oztoxic is slowly dying.
The actual answer from Analytics (March '24) is the following:
CITY USERS Sydney 597K Melbourne 569K Brisbane 265K Perth 150K Adelaide 92K Hobart 42K I live in Turkey and India
I’m in Nambia
My VPN is in Nigeria
That's where my rich benefactor lives too
People from the other states can figure things out for themselves.
Interesting figures, Neil.
So these are the percentages of OzB users based on those six cities:
CITY OZB USERS Percentage Sydney 597,000 34.8 Melbourne 569,000 33.2 Brisbane 265,000 15.5 Perth 150,000 8.7 Adelaide 92,000 5.4 Hobart 42,000 2.4 1,715,000 100.0 And these are the actual population figures for these six cities from the ABS (2023):
(https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/regional…)CITY Population Percentage Sydney 5,450,496 31.4 Melbourne 5,207,145 30.0 Brisbane 2,706,966 15.6 Perth 2,309,338 13.3 Adelaide 1,446,380 8.3 Hobart 253,654 1.5 17,373,979 100.0 We can see that OzB 's demographic matches pretty well with that of Australia as a whole.
Sydney and Melbourne appear higher represented in OzB, but I suspect that is largely due to Google classifying outer urban areas as part of the city (eg, Melton as Melbourne).
[BTW, the ABS suggests that by including these outer urban areas, Melbourne has now overtaken Sydney as Australia's most populous city. (Interestingly, Sydney had long included some extreme outer areas in their totals, whereas Melbourne had not, so it's not like southerners are suddenly doing something new. Just catching up.) Of course, the boundaries and definitions of cities, urbanised areas, governmental areas, etc, etc, are very nebulous and thus make precise city population definitions problematic.]
To me the main standouts here are the under-representation of Perth and Adelaide compared to Australia as a whole. Perth can be excused, as it's basically another country away from civilisation. Out of sight, out of mind. But Adelaide? Maybe it's the stupid half-hour timezone? (Seriously, what an absurd colonial legacy.)
Brisbane, as expected, is completely normal and boring and predictable. Hobart over-represented, but sample size is smallish. (And maybe Google includes Launnie?)
Proud to be that 1 in 10 in Sydney
I would suspect that having access to more in-person deals and the higher cost of living would be two factors why Sydney and Melbourne have greater percentage of users from those locations than the population average.
Exactly this for me.
Living In Brisbane I was always a bit let down when I saw a good deal was for Sydney/Melbourne.
Now living in Sydney and on here much more - because we're on lower pay with higher transport and housing costs.
Interesting. Perhaps people from Melbourne are more active in the forums?
I read a lot of the forum posts, and I get a sense that the majority of OzBargainers (or active OzBargainers) are from Melbourne/Victoria
jv over represents himself so maybe that's why you came to your conclusion.
Feel like it is mostly ppl from NSW but thays just me
OzB is dominated by Sydney and Melbourne city folk and new Australians - most of whom know little outside of their communities.
Where's Perth?
in the real Australia
Does that include you coming out from under your rock?
no
He's a master of oblivious irony
We're just lazier in Vic so more time to respond to the poll.
Adelaide isn't so badelaide 💪🏼
I've noticed that Melbourne tends to have a more cohesive community than some other cities
Its hilarious OP said this when every year for the meetups its @neil subtly suggesting that maybe other people in Melbourne could also organise something.
"I've noticed that Melbourne tends to have a more cohesive community than some other cities."
I don't think "cohesive" is the right word as it's to close to the other C word and no, it's not the one that rhymes with "runts". It's the other one where if you don't tow the party line, retribution then exile are the only solutions.
Yeh they're all commies and they're out to getya. How's the navel fluff collection going?
“Commies”
Don’t think I’d even call them that mate, wouldn’t even give them that much credit.
As far as the navel fluff goes, you tell me lol?
I'm a bit slow so you'll have to help me out. Your C word wasn't "commies'? What word did you have in mind?
The navel fluff comment was pretty obvious I'd have thought. It suggests a propensity towards navel gazing, and a lack of any connection to reality or real world understanding. Mind you I did see an actual navel fluff collector who seemed relatively sane on Andrew Denton's show a long while ago so perhaps the reference is unfair. My apologies to actual lint collectors.
@Igaf: No you're not slow, no need for me to elongate, hang on….elaborate.
Sounds like you're well versed in the world of navel fluff collectors. Can you please bestow more valuable information about this most interesting past time upon me?
Wow no love for the capital city